Friday, July 30, 2010

Second to Last World Cup Post

Been busy as fuck, but two last posts on the World Cup to scrape out of the pipeline and then we are done.

There were more than a few countries who found the British supporters’ attitude to their own team a little confusing. The media named them “the boo boys”, a chorus of agitated fans quite happy to let loose with the jeers when their home side failed to perform.

It seemed especially bizarre to the Australians – we were happy when the Socceroos won, and disappointed when they lost. Anger really didn’t seem to come into the equation.

But speaking to a British fan the reasoning becomes clear – they had spent all year hearing about the million pound contracts, the mansion homes and the model girlfriends. Mostly, they had been hearing how this was the most talented English team to grace the finals. When they underperformed, it was beyond frustrating.

That’s a luxury the Australian team had that the British didn’t; at the end of the day, the Socceroos weren’t expected to go too far. If anything, we were just happy to be there. For the British though, anything less than making the semi finals was deemed a disaster.

That’s the whole problem with the weight of expectation, and it differs wildly per team. There is no point in comparing a soccer mad country like Brazil’s accomplishments with that of say, New Zealand.

So just how well did the teams of the World Cup perform as per expected? I’ve devised a handicap system to rate each team, and the equation is quite simple:

(Where they were expected to finish) – (Where they finished) = score

For instance, the Netherlands were given the seventh best odds of winning the Cup, and finished second. (7) – (2) = 5. They have a score of plus five. Get it?

Japan exceeded all expectations to make it through to the round of 16. I was watching a pre match commentary at some ungodly hour, and vaguely remember hearing that the Japan Manager rewarded the team’s ascent into the round of 16 by telling them they didn’t have to wash their own uniforms after that match. Christ, don’t quote me on that – I was drunk or half asleep for most of the World Cup. But the Japanese are a little kooky – sounds like something they would do.

Uruguay also did better than expected, finishing fourth overall. We know a guy (through about three degrees of separation) from Uruguay living here in Adelaide, who put $500 on the team to win the World Cup before the start of the tournament.

Had they made it through, he would have won $50,500. Just a little more exciting than the bet I made.

God bless the Kiwis – only undefeated team in the entire tournament (Three draws).

England made a real pig’s dinner of this cup – people continue to overlook the fact that the 11 amazing players don’t necessarily make an amazing team. Spain, Argentina, Brazil – these teams look and act like families, England looks like 11 reluctant co-workers.

Still, they didn’t fuck it up anywhere nearly as bad as the previous final players France and Italy. France in particular, who not only threw the baby out with the bath water, but managed to back their car over the baby’s head too.

One more post to come on the World Cup, then we will put this beast to rest.